DE 1 265 501 A presents a damping valve for a shock absorber with a base body which is attached at one end to a piston rod of the shock absorber. The base body of the damping valve separates a first damping fluid space from a second damping fluid space, whereby the base body has passages via which the damping fluid spaces are fluidically connected to one another. Valve spring discs, which close the passages within the base body when the pressure difference of the damping fluid between the damping fluid spaces remains below a limiting value, are held on the base body. If the base body of the damping valve is moved via the piston rod, a pressure difference occurs between the damping fluid spaces, which pressure difference can exceed the limiting value, and the valve spring discs either lift-off from their inner edge support or from their outer edge support, depending on the direction of movement of the base body which can be moved to and fro in a shock absorber tube.
The valve spring discs are held centered on the base body via the inner edge support, and the behavior of the elastic deflection of the valve spring discs is determined by geometric and material properties of the valve spring discs, wherein the degree of elastic prestress of the valve spring discs on the base body also further determines the opening behavior. For example, strongly prestressed valve spring discs of more rigid design lift-off from their edge support to a lesser degree than more elastic, less prestressed valve spring discs.
In the damping arrangement shown by means of the valve spring discs, the disadvantage arises that the opening behavior of the valve spring discs is already defined by the lift-off of the employed valve spring discs from the inner edge support and from the outer edge support. Consequently, via the valve spring discs used, the force/speed behavior of the shock absorber is already determined by the valve spring discs both in the pressure stage during retraction and in the traction stage during extension. Thus there is disadvantageously not the possibility of a separate adjustment of the force/speed behavior between the traction stage and the pressure stage during operation of the shock absorber.